This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Can you build ?.
You know, its something
That keeps you sane.
And you can't explain what.
But you know, it's
What's left inside you.
And I know its something,
You know, its something
That keeps me sane.
And I can't explain why,
It's all I have,
Left to hold on to.
And I say, that is every day.
You (you) know (know) what (woah-oh-oh-oh)
It means to me.
It's just a reason to wait.
From the something that keeps me sane.
I have a reason to wait
(Whoa) Wait.
I have a reason to wait.
From the something that keeps me sane.
I have a reason to wait.
Can you build ?
You know, its something
That keeps us sane.
And you can't explain what.
But you know, it's
What's left inside you.
And I know its something, (Woah)
You know, its something
That keeps us sane.
And I can't explain why,
It's all I have,
Left to hold on to.
And I say, that is every day.
Schemes (schemes)
You (you) know (know) what (woah-oh)
It means to me. (oh-oh)
It's just a reason to wait.
From the something that keeps me sane.
I have a reason to wait
Wait.
I have a reason to wait.
From the something that keeps me sane.
I have a reason to wait.
You know, its something
That keeps you sane.
And you can't explain what.
But you know, it's
What's left inside you.
And I know its something,
You know, its something
That keeps me sane.
And I can't explain why,
It's all I have,
Left to hold on to.
And I say, that is every day.
You (you) know (know) what (woah-oh-oh-oh)
It means to me.
It's just a reason to wait.
From the something that keeps me sane.
I have a reason to wait
(Whoa) Wait.
I have a reason to wait.
From the something that keeps me sane.
I have a reason to wait.
Can you build ?
You know, its something
That keeps us sane.
And you can't explain what.
But you know, it's
What's left inside you.
And I know its something, (Woah)
You know, its something
That keeps us sane.
And I can't explain why,
It's all I have,
Left to hold on to.
And I say, that is every day.
Schemes (schemes)
You (you) know (know) what (woah-oh)
It means to me. (oh-oh)
It's just a reason to wait.
From the something that keeps me sane.
I have a reason to wait
Wait.
I have a reason to wait.
From the something that keeps me sane.
I have a reason to wait.
Lyrics submitted by sugarsweete122
Motto Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
No one knows? Wow...
To me this song can be about whatever it is that keeps you sane. To me, and I think to the writer as well (im going to have to dispute the lyrics here for a sec) Marijuana keeps me sane, now lets not jump to conclusions about how wrong I am, but I believe hes saying weed keeps him sane and its his "reason to wait" hes not a reason away from smoking a joing, he has a reason to wait.... for anything, because he smoked a joint... or 2...
joint* not joing sorry
well its always been about weed to me, even if the words do sometimes seem like hes saying hes a reason away, a lot of times its impossible that there saying that, they have to be saying a reason to wait, and i dunno about you guys but for me weed is the only reason ill fucking wait or sit stilll through anything.
This is only the greatest less than jake song EVER!
It's about that one thing you can't live without, that 'keeps you sane'. Whether it be drugs, music, a girl, your cat, your pillow whatever it is. This song is about holding on to that one 'thing' and never letting it go. It's that thing you love, thats always there for you. And by the way, I just fucking love how this song starts off; magnificent intro.
yes i aggree the guitar intro is amazing!
This song is just about that thing that you love, the one thing that keeps you going, keeps you sane.
Aside from that, this is my favorite Less Than Jake song. I'm serious. Even though it doesn't feature much of the Ska section, it's still a really awesome song.